Laminated article

ABSTRACT

A laminated article comprising an outer layer of a textile fabric and an inner layer of a knitted fabric prepared from a spun yarn, said layers being bonded together with an adhesive. These laminated articles exhibit improved thermal properties.

Inventor Robert Barge Lynbmok, NY. Appl. No. 693,184 Filed Dec. 26, 1967Patented Oct. 26, 1971 Assignee Deering Milliken Research CorporationSpartanhurg, S.C.

1LA11 11NA'1E1D ARTlCLE 6 Claims, N0 Drawings 11.5. 111 161/89,156/291,161/148 llnt. C1 B32b 7/14, D06m 17/00 lField of Search161/89,72, 97, 98, 148, 175, 181; 66/190; 2/46, 69; 156/290, 291

[56} References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,007,227 11/1961 Moler161/181 X 1,993,470 3/1935 Winship 161/72 3,257,262 6/1966 Epstein161/89 3,301,740 l/l967 Stiehl et al 161/89 X 3,383,263 5/1968 Storti161/97 X 3,399,108 8/1968 Olson 161/175 X 3,444,035 5/1969 Bushnell161/89 X Primary ExaminerWilliam A. Powell Attorneys-Norman C. Armitagcand H. William Petry ABSTRACT: A laminated article comprising an outerlayer of a textile fabric and an inner layer of a iknitted fabricprepared from a spun yarn, said layers being bonded together with anadhesive. These laminated articles exhibit improved thermal properties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to laminatedarticles, and more particularly to laminated articles having improvedhand, drape and thermal properties. The invention further relates to alaminated fabric composition comprising an outer layer of a textilefabric and an inner layer of a knitted fabric prepared from a spun yarn,the layers being bonded together with an adhesive.

The necessity for omen having wearing insulating properties generallyresults in the use of heavier fabrics, and especially heavy woolenfabrics. Wool fabrics have been utilized for this purpose because oftheir very desirable insulating properties. A. disadvantage, however, isthat coats and other articles of caring apparel prepared from heavyweight wool fabrics are bulky and heavy, and therefore, objectionable,especially to women who desire light coats. Other fabric materials suchas cotton and the well-known synthetic materials such as the polyestersand polyamides are not known for their insulating properties, and thesynthetics generally develop a displeasing hand when subjected to lowtemperatures.

The use of laminated fabrics for the preparation of wearing apparel andother textile articles has increased significantly in recent years. Thisinterest in laminated fabrics has been generated by the unusual anddesirable properties exhibited by such fabrics. For example, it ispossible to prepare wearing apparel from a combination of two or moretypes of fabrics and obtain the desirable properties of each of thefabrics in a single garment. Such results are not obtained when two ormore fabrics are combined by sewing since there is little or nointeraction between the successive layers which have been sewn.Moreover, the necessary separate cutting and sewing steps involved inthese processes add to the complexity and expense of the operation.

These problems have been overcome to some extent by bonding thesuccessive layers together with an adhesive. In this manner, there isconsiderable interaction between the layers resulting in improvedproperties such as drape and wrinkle resistance. In some instances,however, even the bonded laminated fabrics do not exhibit all thedesirable properties. It has been found, for example, that a laminatedfabric obtained by bonding two similar fabrics such as woven fabrics,possess a considerable propensity for wrinkling due to the apparentlyuneven distortion of the two layers. Such uneven distortions result fromnonuniform bonding of the two layers as well as reaction to theenvironment, especially to moisture and heat.

The unique advantages of laminated fabrics are maximized when a knittedfabric is combined with knitted or woven fabrics, and especially when aknitted fabric is combined with a woven fabric. The laminated fabricpossesses all the desirable properties of a woven fabric and theadditional improved drape characteristics imparted by the bonded knittedfabric. Knitted fabrics are characterized by being expandable in severaldirections, and, therefore, are extremely useful as backing or liningmaterial which should expand or contract to conform to the changes inthe outer material.

It has been known to prepare wearing apparel from laminated fabricsprepared by laminating a layer of foam such as a urethane foam to afabric. These laminated fabrics have been widely used in the preparationof coats and other garments for use in cold weather. Foams, of course,are well known insulators and it is not too surprising, therefore, thata foam-laminated fabric is a warm fabric.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION it THE PREFERRED now been discovered that afabric having improved thermal properties can be prepared by bonding anouter layer of a textile fabric to an inner layer of a knitted fabricprepared from a spun yarn.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The outer layer ofterephthalate; laminated article can be either a woven, knitted ornon-woven fabric comprised of natural fibers, synthetic fibers, andblends thereof. The natural fibers include the cellulosic and proteinfibers such as cotton, flax, ramie, wool, alpaca, vicuna, mohair,cashmere, camel hair, Llama, fur and silk. Examples of synthetic fibersinclude polyamides, such as polyhexamethylene adipamide, polyesters suchas polyethylene terephthalate; acrylic fibers such as acrylonitrile,homopolymers or copolymers of acrylonitrile, such asacrylonitrile/methyl acrylate (:15) and cellulosic derivatives such ascellulose acetate and viscose rayon. Examples of fabrics composed ofblends of natural and synthetic fibers include the following: Fortrelpolyester/cotton (50:50) Dacron polyester/cotton (65:35); lDacronpolyester/wool (65:35); and acrilan/wool (55:45).

The preferred fabric for use as the outer layer of the laminated articleof this invention is a woven fabric and more particularly a woven woolfabric. Knitted fabrics such as the Raschel fabrics are alsoparticularly useful since a wide variety of styles and weights can beprepared by the Raschel process.

The inner layer utilized in the preparation of the laminated articles ofthis invention are knitted fabrics obtained from spun yarns. The use ofspun yarns results in a laminated fabric having unexpectedly superiorinsulating properties. For exam ple, it has been found that a laminatedfabric comprised of a layer of a wool fabric and a layer of a knittedspun cotton fabric possesses all of the desirable properties of asatisfactory fabric and unusually high-insulating properties. That is,the laminated fabric is as good an insulator or better than anequivalent weight of the woolen fabric alone. This is especiallysurprising since cotton is not known to be a good insulator material.

Natural and synthetic fibers may be utilized in the preparation of theinner knitted fabric. Such fibers include cellulosic products such ascotton, rayon, viscose rayon, nylon polyester, polyamide, and celluloseacetate. Fabrics such as acetate tricot, nylon tricot and rayon tricotare useful inner fabrics although the spun yarn cellulosic fabrics arepreferred. Raschel, jersey, circular or tubular knit fabrics are alsouseful in the preparation of the laminates of this invention.

The inner and outer layers of fabric are bonded together by any of theadhesives known to those skilled in the art. The choice is determined bythe properties desired and the end use of the laminate. For example,laminates which are to be washable are generally bonded with an adhesivewhich is capable of withstanding such treatments. The adhesive may beapplied to the fabrics as a liquid or many be applied in the form ofthreads or nonwoven fabrics which are thermoplastic and possess latentadhesive properties. Elastorners which are soluble or dispersible in aliquid carrier are especially useful and these include those elastomersprepared from acrylates, urethanes and vinyl acetates. Polyurethaneadhesive are solvent based and are cured at room temperature. On theother hand, acrylic adhesives are water based and are cured at elevatedtemperatures, usually from one to three minutes at l 20-l SO DVa C.

In the process of this invention, the adhesive is preferably applied toportions only of the meeting surfaces of the fabrics to be laminated,although the adhesive may be applied as a continuous layer or film.Discontinuous patterns such as checker board or plaidlike patterns arecontemplated also. Alternatively, the adhesive composition may beapplied in the form of substantially discrete nodules or blotches.

The adhesive can be applied to one or both of the fabrics to belaminated by any of the known methods such as from a blanket or belt,gravure rollers, or through a spray. Of these methods, the gravure rolland spray techniques are preferred for applying adhesive in somepredetermined pattern of dots, squares, blotches, stripes, etc. Thethickness of the applied adhesive may vary from 0.003 to about 0.030inches. One important aspect of the application of the adhesive is therheology of the adhesive itself. The rheology of adhesives can be variedby the use of different thickening agents. Self-reactive acrylic resinscan be thickened by the addition of a methyl cellulose such as Methocel4,000 (available from Dow Chemical Company). This is an inert neutralthickener which does not inhibit cross-linking of the acrylic emulsion.Also useful as thickeners are acid containing acrylic emulsions whichthicken on the addition of a basic substance such as ammonia.

The amount of adhesive applied to the fabric is not critical althoughenough adhesive should be supplied to provide a satisfactory bondbetween the layers of the laminate.

Generally about 2.5 to about 25 percent by weight of the adhesive basedon the weight of the fabric is used.

The fabric layers are bonded together by applying the adhesive to eitheror both of the fabrics and thereafter pressing the layers together byany known method such as by passing the fabric through a nip roller. Thelaminated fabric is then passed into a drying unit which will varyaccording to the type of adhesives used. If polyurethane adhesives areused, all that is required is sufficient heat to drive off the solventand a simple hot air oven will suffice. When acrylics are used, moreheat is required since the water must first be driven off and then theadhesive cured. Also, since acrylic adhesives are water based andgenerally low tack adhesive it is usually necessary to ensure that thetwo layers of fabric cannot move in relation to each other until all ormost of the water has been driven off. Because of this, drum and beltdryers are preferred.

The fabrics which comprise the layers of the laminates of this inventionmay be chemically treated by the methods known in the art to provide theproduct with desirable supplemental properties such as the ability toresist soiling and water. For example the fabrics, either before orafter laminating may be treated with resins such as the fluorocarbon andsilicone resins to render the product water and soil resistant. It isalso known, as described in copending application, Ser. No. 683,219, nowu.s. pat. No. 3,539,573, to bond the fabrics before dyeing. In thismanner, one can obtain any desired color matching and the necessity ofaccumulating a sizable inventory of various colored fabrics isalleviated. The following examples illustrate the laminated articles ofthis invention and the process for preparing said articles. Unlessotherwise indicated, all parts and percentages are by weight.

EXAMPLE 1 A 60-inch wide woven fabric ounce/linear yard) composed of ablend of 85 parts of wool and parts of Nylon is laminated to a60-67-inch wide spun Nylon tricot (l l yards/pound) with an adhesivecomprising polyvinyl acetate, dioctyl phthaiate plasticizer and citricacid as a catalyst. The adhesive is applied in the form of a checkerboard pattern, and the fabrics are pressed together between the cans ofa laminator maintained at a temperature of about 125 C. while travellingat the rate of 12 yards per minute. The laminated fabric is then curedfor l to 2 minutes at 150 C.

EXAMPLE 2 A 60-inch wide, woven, all-wool fabric (10 ounce/linear yard)is laminated to a 60-65-inch wide spun white acetate tricot utilizingthe adhesive described in example l applied in the form of dots. The twofabrics are brought together in a laminator travelling at l5 yards perminute at a roll temperature of 150-160C.

EXAMPLE 3 EXAMPLE 4 A 60-inch wide, percent all-wool fabric as describedin example 2 is laminated to a jersey knit cotton fabric 65-67 incheswide and 3 yards/pound) utilizing an acrylate a hesive prepared bymixing 400 parts of Rhoplex E-35 8 (a 60 percent solids,self-cross-linking acrylic emulsion available from the Rhom & HaasCompany), 8 parts of an acid-containing acrylic emulsion copolymer, alsoavailable from Rohm & Haas Company under the tradename ACRYSOL ASE-95, 8parts of ACRYSOL ASE-60, (a thickener available from Rohm & HaasCompany), 5.5 parts of diammonium hydrogen phosphate, and 0.5 parts of asilicone antifoam agent in 41 parts of water. The adhesive is applied inthe form of dots which are flattened out as the two layers of fabric arebrought together and laminated in a laminator travelling at l2 yards perminute at a roll temperature of H8 C. The laminated fabric is then curedfor about two minutes at C., and the excess knit fabric is trimmed off.

EXAMPLE 5 The procedure of example I is repeated except that thelaminate is prepared from a woven 100 percent acrilan fabric and ajersey knit cotton fabric (67 inches wide and 44 yards/pound).

EXAMPLE 6 The procedure of example 4 is repeated except that the outerlayer of the laminate is a knitted cotton and the inner layer is aknitted viscose rayon.

As mentioned previously, the laminated articles of this invention,having an outer layer of a textile fabric and an inner layer of aknitted fabric prepared from a spun yarn, exhibit unusually highinsulation properties. It has been observed, for example, that alaminated fabric composed of a lO-ounce woven wool fabric and an 8-ouncejersey knit cotton fabric bonded together with an adhesive applied indistinct dots is as good a thermal insulator or better than an l8-ouncewoven wool fabric. Moreover, laminated fabrics having an inner layerprepared from spun yarn exhibit improved hand when compared to laminateshaving an inner fabric of a filament yarn.

That which is claimed:

1. A laminated article having improved thermal properties and drapecomprising an outer layer of a woven or knitted wool fiber-containingfabric and an inner layer of a knitted cellulosic fabric prepared from aspun yarn, said layers being bonded together with an adhesive.

2. The laminated article of claim 1 wherein the outer layer of fabric isa woven wool fabric.

3. The laminated article of claim 1 wherein the inner layer is a knittedcotton fabric.

4. The laminated article of claim 1 wherein the inner layer is a jerseyknit cotton fabric.

5. The laminated article of claim 1 wherein the inner layer is anacetate tricot fabric.

6. The laminated article of claim 1 wherein the adhesive is applied toportions only of the meeting surfaces of the fabrics.

2. The laminated article of claim 1 wherein the outer layer of fabric isa woven wool fabric.
 3. The laminated article of claim 1 wherein theinner layer is a knitted cotton fabric.
 4. The laminated article ofclaim 1 wherein the inner layer is a jersey knit cotton fabric.
 5. Thelaminated article of claim 1 wherein the inner layer is an acetatetricot fabric.
 6. The laminated article of claim 1 wherein the adhesiveis applied to portions only of the meeting surfaceS of the fabrics.